Viking Combined Support Contract

Concepts

• viking arms ltd
• support contract
• bristol
• firearms and ammunition
• provision of support services
• provision of a technical support service
• combined support
• uk armed forces
• service fleet of glock weapons
• weapons, ammunition

Location

Bristol

Description

The Authority intends to award an enabling contract to Viking Arms Ltd for the provision of support services in respect of the in-service fleet of Glock weapons and supporting ancillaries with the UK Armed Forces. The contract will be for a 5-year period and will include the provision of a technical support service and the procurement of additional in-service weapons if required.

Total Quantity or Scope

The Authority intends to place a Combined Support Enabling Contract to support the in-service fleet of Glock weapons and supporting ancillaries, in order to ensure they can meet their enduring and future capability needs across the UK Armed Forces Commands.

Award Detail

Renewal Options

Options will be available on the contract to procure additional in-service weapons and ancillaries. There will not be an option available to extend the term of the contract.

CPV Codes

• 50620000 - Repair and maintenance services of firearms and ammunition
• 35300000 - Weapons, ammunition and associated parts

Indicators

• Options are available.
• Award on basis of price and quality.

Legal Justification

The Dismounted Close Combat programme team, part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to place a 5-year enabling contract with Viking Arms Ltd for the Combined Support, Supply and Repair of the in-service fleet of Glock weapons and supporting ancillaries with the provision to procure additional systems if required. It is considered that this Contract will be placed using the Negotiated Procedure without Prior Publication of a Contract Notice pursuant to Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) and 16(1)(b)(i) of the UK Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 for Technical Reasons. This is because the chosen supplier is the sole UK agent for the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and Design Authority (DA) for the Glock family of weapons and are the only economic entity with the necessary technical data, knowledge and expertise, and proprietary documentation maintained by the DA. These are all fundamental in order to provide the required technical support, assure any repairs, and undertake any Post Design Services to underwrite any changes or modifications in compliance with the OEM quality assurance controls and measures that maintains operational performance and effectiveness of the weapons. Without access to the proprietary documentation, technical drawings, tooling and test equipment, specific manufacturing processes and knowledge and expertise, any goods or services provided by another entity would require new testing, new verification and validation to ensure that the safety and suitability for service of the weapons, operational performance and effectiveness, and the interoperability with other weapons and platforms is not compromised and that the Safety Case for the system is not invalidated. A change of supplier would also oblige the Authority to acquire goods having different technical characteristics, resulting in incompatibility between the existing platforms and weapons, affecting the support, technical publications and documentation, user training, and logistics of a multiple platform fleet from that already provided and currently in-service. There would also be disproportionate cost, time and technical difficulties incurred to the Authority associated with introducing new items into the Authority’s supply chain and inventory.